Fantasy Baseball: Seattle Mariners Hitless in Seattle

The Seattle Mariners are in the middle of a five game losing streak. Our fantasy baseball teams are receiving great pitching from the starting rotation, but the offense has been absolutely dismal. Injuries to Justin Smoak and Michael Saunders, has left the team a handful of scrubs to try and win ball games. We all know Robinson Cano can’t carry the load by himself. But the biggest question on the minds of fantasy owners, is how can you keep losing streaks from effecting our current league rankings?

Let’s flash back a week in time. The Seattle Mariners were on a tear. They had won five straight games. The offense was driving in runs, starting pitchers were throwing deep into ball games, and the bullpen was shutting the door on the opposition.

The craziest part, all of this was happening on the road. It’s not typical for pro ball players to perform on a high level when they are traveling. They are supposed to be short rested and sick of flying to the next city.

All that changed when the team returned home this week to Safeco Field. The Mariners have become hitless in Seattle. The hitters have (flat out) not earned their paychecks this week. Our fantasy baseball squads are screaming for offensive statistics.

Not once did the Mariners score more than three runs in a game during this losing streak. What’s worse is that the team lost three of the five games by one measly run. I think it is pretty clear there is not much to talk about regarding the Mariners offense this week, so let’s divert the attention towards one pitcher who has kept his fantasy owners very happy this past week.

Felix Hernandez has pitched two beautify ball games in a row. He may have no wins to show for his performance, but he was able to improve on all his fantasy statistics on the year. Owners may be frustrated with the lack of stats in the win column, but his low ERA, WHIP, and Ks on the year are atop the leader charts for the year.

If you kept Hernandez in your fantasy baseball SP spot this week, you rewarded heavily. Felix pitched one of the best games in his career last Sunday. Hernandez set a new career high with 15 strikeouts in only seven innings pitched. He didn’t even give up one hit. The offense didn’t score any runs until the ninth inning, so Felix didn’t pick up the win. But his stats on the day improved all fantasy owners ERA, WHIP, and definitely K’s.

Felix also pitched this past Friday against the Texas Rangers, and put up even more stellar numbers for his fantasy owners. The King pitched deep into the ball game before being pulled with one out in the ninth. Unfortunately, the sole runner Felix left on base did score the only run of the game. The run was charged to Felix and he collected his second loss of the season

Not to say Felix didn’t pitch well, as he still lowered his earned run average on the year to 2.29 ERA, and added six more strike outs to his total of 112 K on the year. Felix is scheduled to take on the San Diego Padres this week on Wednesday. This will be the first game of the upcoming road trip, so it will be crucial to have Hernandez get the team started against the struggling fourth place Padres team.

WEEKLY FANTASY PROJECTION: FELIX HERNANDEZ

7  IP, 1 W, 8 K, 1.00 ERA and .75 WHIP

I’m willing to forgive and forget the offensive struggles this week, if you are. Ironically, the good news is that team will be hitting another road trip mid-week. Hopefully taking on the Padres and Kansas City Royals will help wake up the offense. Either way, fantasy owners should expect great things from the Mariners pitching as the Padres and Royals are struggling even worse than the Mariners at scoring runs.